The United States has unveiled a $988 million aid package of new arms and equipment to Ukraine for its ongoing fight against Russia’s invasion over the weekend.
The package is nearly half of the available value of $2.21 billion remaining in the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) as the Biden administration works to commit to buying weapons from industry, rather than pulling from U.S. weapons stocks.
The USAI funds will be put toward buying ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) made by Lockheed Martin as well as drones and spare parts to maintain artillery equipment, according to the Pentagon.
The announcement of the package came on Saturday as the defence industry and policymakers met at the annual Reagan National Defence Forum in California.
The Biden administration has often used the Presidential Drawdown Authority, which authorizes President Joe Biden to transfer excess articles and services from U.S. stocks without congressional approval during an emergency.
The USAI funds are separate and will go to purchase new weapons from industry.
The Biden administration still has about $6 billion of congressionally granted presidential drawdown authority, including funds authorized in 2024 and funds discovered by the Pentagon after overestimating the value of arms shipped to Ukraine.
Since the Russian invasion in February 2022, the U.S. has committed more than $62 billion worth of security assistance to Ukraine.
Meanwhile, advisers to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump are floating proposals to end the Ukraine war that could entail ceding large parts of the country to Russia, according to a Reuters analysis of the statements and interviews with several people close to the U.S. president-elect.
The proposals by three key advisers, including Trump’s incoming Russia-Ukraine envoy, retired Army Lieutenant-General Keith Kellogg, share some elements, including taking NATO membership for Ukraine off the table.
Trump’s advisers would try forcing Moscow and Kyiv into negotiations with carrots and sticks, including halting military aid to Kyiv unless it agrees to talk but boosting assistance if Russian President Vladimir Putin refuses.
Team Bharatshakti
(With inputs from Reuters)
